White Sox Acquire Gillaspie, Designate Anderson  —  The White Sox announced that they acquired third baseman Conor Gillaspie from the Giants for minor league right-hander Jeff Soptic.  The White Sox designated infielder Lars Anderson for assignment to create a 40-man roster spot for Gillaspie.

Left shoulder woes of NY Mets pitcher Johan Santana a sure sign of spring  —  There is a bit of mystery to exactly what's going on here, after GM Sandy Alderson announced on Friday that Santana's first spring training start was being pushed back to somewhere in mid-March.

Minor League Transactions: Feb. 14-19  —  Official minor league transactions, conveyed to us by Major League Baseball, for the period Feb. 14-19.  —  For more information on Article XX-B free agents, see our review of all 31 major league free agents who signed minor league contracts this offseason.

Cards place Chris Carpenter on 60-day DL  —  • By Derrick Goold dgoold@post-dispatch.com 314-340-8285  —  JUPITER, Fla.  • The Cardinals have placed righty Chris Carpenter on the 60-day disabled list with the return of a nerve condition in his right shoulder that has made it impossible …

Dodgers' Steve Garvey is battling prostate cancer, has surgery  —  Steve Garvey, shown here in 2011, is battling prostate cancer.  (Christina House / For The Times / February 22, 2013)  —  Former Dodgers first base great Steve Garvey, a 10-time All-Star and 1974 National League MVP, is battling prostate cancer.

Thome ready to play if he gets a call  —  Know this about Jim Thome: If he is forced into retirement, he is not going to be bitter, and he is not going to complain.  —  Thome, though, does not want to retire.  —  In fact, he is heading to Phoenix early next week to continue his training at Fischer Sports …

MLB Opens Its Vault to Destroy Your Productivity  —  Major League Baseball, which has hoarded its old archives and clips like Scrooge Freaking McDuck, suddenly released a treasure trove of amazing old highlights.  You can find the main archive here.  —  Some of my favorites:

Gyorko wastes little time in getting first hit  —  Jedd Gyorko celebrates his grand slam with Will Venable (left) Chris Denorfia (center) and Kyle Blanks.  (Charlie Riedel/AP)  —  PEORIA, Ariz. — Jedd Gyorko nearly came out of his shoes Friday when he went up the ladder, missing a high fastball from Mariners pitcher Hector Noesi.

Gio Gonzalez says he passed his drug test  —  Nationals left-hander Gio Gonzalez passed the drug test MLB administered to him in late January, Gonzalez said today at Nationals spring training.  The MLB Players Association informed Gonzalez Friday that the tests on his blood and urine had returned negative, Gonzalez said.

Game 1: Nationals vs. Mets at 12:10 PM  —  Today at Tradition Field, the Mets open their Grapefruit League schedule against the Nationals at 12:10 pm.  —  Batting OrderMetsNationals  —  1  —  Kirk Nieuwenhuis CF  —  Denard Span CF  —  2  —  Ruben Tejada SS  —  Steve Lombardozzi 2B

Mariano Rivera throws BP  —  TAMPA, Fla. — New York Yankees closer Mariano Rivera cleared another hurdle in his recovery from knee surgery Friday morning when he faced hitters for the first time since his injury.  —  Rivera threw 20 pitches in live batting practice to two hitters …